Pages

Friday, February 5, 2016

Outlining for the Messy Brain -- by Christine

I envy those writers who call themselves pansters. They sit down at their computer and start typing out
their novel, having a general idea of where they want their story to go.

Oh boy do I wish . . .

I have a messy brain, stuffed with ideas for several novels all
at once, so if I sit down at my computer without an outline I can guarantee
myself several major rewrites.

Last week Rachel talked about Getting
to Know Your Story, writing out those all-important character sketches, scene
kernels, the faith story, and so on. Character development is huge, and at
Novel Renaissance we will be talking in greater depth about Character in September.

But by this time in the novel’s journey we are here:

The Premise is written (although open for tweaking) ü

Character sketches, scene kernels, faith story are written ü

Now I’m ready to start an outline. ü

There are a lot of excellent
outline styles out there, but the method that has worked best for me is a
combination of elements.

Let’s start first with # 1 YOUR NOVEL IS A
CIRCLE

When a story comes a full 360 degrees from start to ending, the
reader may not recognize it but they should feel a silent ahhhhhh that the ending is reminiscent of the beginning.

For example, Veiled at Midnight had to start with an important historical event and end after another
historical event. I also wanted the ending to feature my hero and heroine in an
emotional scene that resonated with chapter one. However, Veiled at Midnight is also the finale to a trilogy, so that book
had to close two circles, its own story and that of the entire trilogy.

Christine’s Writing Tip: One of my personal tips
is to actually copy sections from my first chapter and play with the writing to
create my ending.

If you have read the entire trilogy Twilight of the BritishRaj you may recognize parts of Chapter One Shadowed in Silk in the epilogue for Veiled at
Midnight. But instead of seeing India through the eyes of my first heroine Abby
who is just arriving in India at the end of 1918, the trilogy ends as seen through
the eyes of Dassah, a young Indian woman who is leaving India in 1947.

September 1947

On the Bombay quay, a kaleidoscope of color
and humanity dazzled Dassah’s eyes—Women in saris of mango pink, peacock
blue, lime green. Bengali clerks rushed here and there. On the dock, uniformed
English soldiers joined the throng on their way back to England. So many
people. The teeming press of millions. India, the land of her birth.

And
now # 2 STORY POINT METHOD—to help me close the story circle

·

I
start on a fresh document page with a # 1 and write down my first story point.

Cam and Dassah say goodbye to their loved ones
in India as they prepare to leave India by ship, and live somewhere in the world happily ever after.

·Then
I go back up to create point # 2, what has to happen after point # 1 to get my
characters on the journey to the last point.

After finding her again after all these years Cam
can’t let Dassah go, and seeks her out even though the city has erupted in
riots.

·After
I write Step # 2, I jump down to Step # 14. What has to happen right before the last
point, in order to make that happen?

Cam rescues Dassah from the area in tumult by
hijacking a train.

·Back
and forth I go from beginning to ending until I work my way into the middle of
my book with all the story points from # 3 to 13 which would include

From the beginning of the story Cam and Dassah
find each other, and we think they will live happily ever after. But due to
their mixed race love, she runs away and is lost to Cam in the middle of a
country being split in half. Cam in his political role as aide to the British
Viceroy of India is torn as he helps the British grant independence to India
while also searching for the woman he loves before she dies during the Indian Partition and the birth of Pakistan.

·This
method forces me to work out the kinks in my novel first before I start a more
in-depth outline. My middles are not just filler, but each point relies on the
point before and paves the way for the point following.

When I’ve got my story points down, I then
look to see if they naturally fall into a 3-act play. Because of the story
points I find 99% of the time that the novel automatically creates that 3-act
structure, but if it’s weak then I go back and work on those story points.

ACT
I

Childhood
friends (English) Cam and (Indian) Dassah are reunited and try to find ways to
openly be married at a time when mixed race marriages were taboo in British
India.

ACT
II

India
begins the tumultuous process of gaining independence from Britain, and in so
doing the country erupts with violence from various factions. At the same time
Dassah’s heart is broken that Cam does not want to openly make her his wife,
and she runs away, hiding herself in the war-torn countryside.

ACT
III

After
a building climax of violence, rescue, and character arcs, where all characters
learn how to overcome their situation with God’s guidance, Cam rescues Dassah physically,
but Dassah rescues Cam emotionally. The end of the book has them deciding what
God wants them to do as a couple.

Ultimately though, that 3-act structure matches
up beautifully and very naturally with my premise. If not, I tweak until it
does.

Funny thing is, I inherited the writing gift from my mother who is born story teller. I learn so much from her when she puts a spin on something from life in her unique Irish way. Plus, while she doesn't have the education that I have, she is very gifted in writing letters to those who need encouragement. She's the card lady in our church, and blesses so many. There are so many beautiful ways the Lord uses the gift of writing, and I know that you have been such a part of Rachel's writing career.